Thursday, July 29, 2010

Mumbai's Underworld

Post-Independent India was a land of golden opportunity. And one of the many hands that grabbed that opportunity was a man who toiled for 12 hours a day at the docks in Bombay. The man we grew up to know as Haji Mastan. In the early 70s, dons like Haji Mastan ruled the roost with the pure intent of making money. It was a profitable era devoid of supari killings, gang wars and shoot-outs.Born to a humble family of farmers in Tamil Nadu, Mastan Haider Mirza first came to the city in 1954 in search of greener pastures. He joined as a daily wager at the docks earning a paltry sum of Rs 5 per day.Frustrated at the hand-to-mouth existence and his inability to earn money, Mastan turned to smuggling imported watches, radios and gold biscuits from the docks. The money started flowing in and soon he began roping in more coolies to handle his operations.

In the late 50s, the state government imposed a prohibition on alcohol and that created the perfect opportunity for Mastan to cash in. Rampant smuggling of liquor ensured profits for everyone involved in the process, right from the hands that smuggled the bottles to the hands that poured it in glasses across the city. Mastan was a peaceful person and never advocated violence in his business. He believed in the concept of making money and sharing the spoils with the chain of people involved in the game.It was a smooth ride for the smugglers as there were no murders or shoot-outs and therefore no criminal cases were registered. The cops were happy with the weekly under-the-table arrangement and never came knocking at their doors.However, that era of thriving business was soon replaced by a bloodbath on the streets with the advent of dons like Dawood Ibrahim, Sayed Batla, Amirzada, Rama Naik and Babu Reshim.

One particular incident that sounds right out of a Bollywood masala flick was when Sayed Batla, a dreaded gangster stormed into Mastan's office and threatened the ageing businessman."Batla kisi ka ghulam nahin hai, ke uske galey mein patta dal do," he screamed from Dongri at Mastan. Mastan understood that the time had come for his business to move ahead and needed the likes of Batla. The end of the 'business' era was here. There were other businessmen who specialised in supplying smuggled goods to traders at Musafirkhana -- a hub of smuggled goods. Smugglers like Karim Lala hired Batla's nemesis Dawood Ibrahim and his elder brother Sabir. Most of these toughies were used as recovery agents to collect money from defaulting traders at Shuklaji street and other pockets where smuggling goods were sold in large quantities.

However, events took a nasty turn when Dawood crossed swords with members of the Pathan faction led by Amirzada over a recovery from a Customs agent. The tiff resulted in the Pathan brothers killing Dawood's brother Sabir in 1981.The murder launched a bloodbath that resulted in over 20 high-profile gangsters being gunned down, including Amirzada inside the Sessions Court in September 1983.While Dawood had the support of gangsters like Rama Naik and Babu Reshim, the Pathans formed their own group. It was a war between the Konkanis and Pathans.The killings marked the end of the smuggler's era, most of whom had never fired a round or stabbed an adversary. Soon after Dawood took over the smuggling business, most of the businessmen went into hibernation.Mastan began dabbling with film production and distribution. He also floated a political party Dalit Muslim Surakhsha Maha Sangh in 1985. He continued to be a social worker until his death in 1994.

One of the shrewdest real estate dons in the Mumbai underworld, Yusuf Patel had mastered the art of creating construction space out of thin air. While slumlords extended their empire horizontally, Patel has the dubious distinction of pioneering the acquisition of illegal Floor Space Index (FSI), to send his buildings skyrocketing into space.By the 1980s, the underworld was settling into the city's landscape, modifying it in subtle ways. Gangs began to feed on the growth of slums, using them to find new recruits, new proving grounds and to wriggle their way into politics. The explosive growth of slums coincided with the alarming rise of organised syndicates. Gangs were offered Rs 3,000 per hut -- money which was shared by the underworld, police and civic authorities.Patel's contemporary Vardharajan Mudaliar alias Vardhabhai collected around Rs 2 crore from the slumlords in and around Dharavi and Sion-Koliwada. Most of the collector's land along the creek was encroached upon by the don's henchmen.

While most of the gangs were providing protection to the slumlords, Patel went one step ahead and performed the feat of grabbing additional FSI illegally. The art has, since, been perfected by other dons and even builders.Patel's FSI scam was perpetrated so subtly that it took the civic authorities 16 long years to find out that the don had tampered with land records.Born Abdul Majid Abdul Patel, a Memon Muslim, he got involved in smuggling textiles and silver with Haji Mastan around 1963. However, the alliance did not last long because of financial disputes with the syndicate.In 1977, Janta Dal leader Jai Prakash Narayan offered amnesty to all smugglers. Patel jumped on to the bandwagon and everybody in the underworld thought he had shunned the life of a criminal, that the docks and the goons were things of the past for him. While others forgot his dubious past, Patel launched his own construction company and began operating from Pydhonie. And, while the other dons were still dealing with the police, Patel began grabbing additional FSI, fetching himself multi-crore deals. A few buildings, including a hotel near Nagpada junction, were part of his deals in South Mumbai.Everything seemed normal on the surface until an upright BMC official discovered that a large number of land records from several ward offices had been tampered with Prima facie, investigating officials discovered that Patel had manipulated the deals of two buildings in Tardeo and three in Byculla. They would soon discover that there were 50 other cases of gross manipulation of land records, which were carried out in connivance with civic officials.By the mid-80s, Dawood Ibrahim had also learnt the art of FSI grabbing. He brought in a team of 'white collar' associates to specialise in tampering with land records and corner the lion's share of income from real estate in South Mumbai.Patel's keeping away from the docks and goons proved to be a blessing in disguise because when things started to get ugly in the Mumbai underworld, he managed to avoid direct confrontation with Karim Lala's nephew Samad and gangsters owing allegiance to Dawood.

It is the 'don' of a new era as the underworld is abuzz with who will be the next kingpin to rule the high seas, a coveted area of operation which is not only lucrative but also dangerous across the seven islands. The daylight murder of Chand Sayed Madar in September was an indicator that he had outlived his utility. Chand was also involved in paani ka kaam or working on the high seas. The booking of Mohammed Ali for Chand's murder was like killing two birds with one stone. Ali had become too big for his boots and crossed swords with some local politicians and senior police officers.

New Kingpin

Even as the Crime Branch's investigations revolve around the murder, the motive could be linked to taking over the business from Madar or Chandbhai, as he is known. It could also mean installing a new kingpin, which often happens with the blessings of some corrupt cops. The new kingpin could be Paaniwalla Sadru. There are others like Rafiq, Battiwala, Munna Maldar, Murugan, Santosh and Sadiq who are all trying to corner the lion's share of income from diesel smuggling. Then again, the next man could be a D Company nominee. The gang not only wants to control the Rs. 1,000-crore diesel business, but also the smuggling of contraband to the grey market hubs at Manish Market and Musafirkhana. Tonnes of goods are transported across the Carnac Bunder Bridge to hundreds of dingy kiosks.Pivotal armPaani ka kaam is one of the most important arms of Mumbai's underworld. For the gangs, it means controlling the littoral waters and landing of contraband into the city. A stark reminder is the arms and ammunition, which was dumped by Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon's associates along the Raigad coast resulting in the serial blasts in 1993. Paani ka kaam or smuggling on the high seas is a very lucrative business estimated at Rs. 1,000 crore annually, but, like anything with high returns, the risks are high too. It is also one of the most dangerous areas for the underworld to operate within.

One of the earliest paani ka kaam wallahs was Haji Mastan in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was soon ousted by Dawood Ibrahim who was launched by Mastan in the smuggling business. Another case in point is Yusuf Kasargod alias Yusuf Handsome. He was forced to leave Mumbai and head for his village in Kerala. The list is long. Paani ka kaam on the high seas has always attracted members of the Dawood Ibrahim gang. Even the explosives used in the 1993 serial blasts were smuggled through the sea route in Raigad district.Deadly duoA new theory gaining ground in Mumbai's underworld is that a pair called Tingubhai and Langdabhai is interested in paani ka kaam. The duo was considered close to Dawood Ibrahim's right-hand-man, Chhota Shakeel. The Tingu-Langda duo decided to take over paani ka kaam from most of the small timers. They want to buy up all the redundant boats and barges needed for paani ka kaam. Slain Chand was an obstacle. Despite the mounting police raids, he did succumb to pressure tactics of the thugs Tingu and Langda, both white-collar lieutenants. The majority of the paani ka kaam wallahs found favour with Dawood's younger brother Anis. Tingu and Langda were aligned to the Shakeel faction.Marking territoryEven as various gangs were marking their territories, Additional Commissioner of Police (south region) R K Padmanabhan stepped up patrolling along the coast. This seriously affected the paani ka kaam in the Mumbai harbour. As a fallout of this increased patrolling, business shrunk. Chand though, continued to hold on to his alleged shipping business with the help of his cronies. "We are checking all possible angles," Padmanabhan told MiD DAY when asked about the murder.Changing fortunesThough the seas are tinged with blood, paani ka kaam has changed the fortunes of many. While some involved were hardcore underworld operatives, others operated from the fringes without getting dragged into sinister crime. It is the proverbial rags to riches story for most. People who started as 'apprentice' killers (a gory label but necessary to understand the hierarchy of the crime world) have ended up as rich owners of 200 or more tankers.

For more than three decades, the walls of the Mumbai docks have witnessed the rise and fall of Mumbai's mafia kingpins. If docks could speak, they would whisper about dubious triumphs and downfalls, truth and betrayal, life and death... Cartons to containersIn the early 1970s, when the tonnage of goods in the Bombay Port was steadily rising, there was enough work for the 1,000 odd workers as well as enough overtime, to keep port workers happy. It was common to see about 100 coolies eating snacks together after work. Hectic work and the extra money was a windfall to the dozen restaurateurs operating in the Carnac Bunder area. Unknown to the port workers though, a motley group became active those days, after the workers had returned home. First, they jumped over the walls and broke into petty consignments, beginning with lifting small parcels, and then slowly getting more ambitious. Soon, the thieves were looting cartons and later, entire containers.Restaurant watchPolice sources say that Haji Mastan and his trusted lieutenants headed the group.

Particularly promising amongst them was one Paul Patrick Newman. Slowly, stealthily but surely Mumbai's underworld was being nurtured. Mastan's men operated out of the Crescent House, off the docks. The cluster of the buildings in the area became an ideal spot for handling stolen goods and loading them onto tempos to be dispatched onward to their destinations across the city. Most of the activities were monitored from a local restaurant in the area.Textiles & tape recordersIncrease in the tonnage in the port operations saw adequate underworld recruitment too. Small-time thieves and hooligans joined Mastan's team, almost gaining a free run in the 720-hectare land in the port zone. But the 1980s tonnage in the port shot up to more than 1,70,000 dead weight tonnes per annum. The volume of pilferage rose too and truckloads of contraband were being delivered across Carnac Bunder to Musafirkhana and Manish Market. The smuggled cargo mostly comprised beer cans, textiles, tape recorders, cigarettes, perfumes and automatic watches. The goods could be easily traced to Musafirkhana, some shops in Heera Panna and many customs notified shops across the city.Dons line upThe money from the docks' prosperity saw the once sleepy business district of Ballard Pier in South Mumbai morph and get a dubious vivacity. It became an area where hotels did brisk business and nightlife grew, with prostitutes lining up at the corner.

Soon, a strong competitor to Mastan emerged in the form of Afghan national, Karim Lala. After the duo divided their business, Mirchi Seth joined Lala. There was huge money in drugs smuggling and Dawood Ibrahim then made an attempt to corner a lion's share of the income. Lala had the backing of the Pathan brothers, Amirzada and Alamzeb. Dawood had to seek the help of the Byculla Company, particularly Babu Reshim. Dharavi-based don Vardharajan Mudaliar alias Vardhabhai and his henchmen also threw their hats into the ring. Urban dacoit Manya Surve also joined the fray.Switch neededBy the '90s, smugglers found safe landing sites in the mangroves of Sewri-Wadala, Worli and Mahim. Some of the contraband was loaded onto small ships and ferried to distant jetties like Versova, Gorai and even Ratnagiri. With the opening of the economy, foreign goods were easily available in Indian markets. The demand for branded goods diminished. Cloth from the state-of-the-art textile mills replaced Boski and Stretchlon fabrics, which were in great demand till the late 1980s. Dawood Ibrahim and his cronies were left with very little choice but to shift their business to new areas like diesel smuggling.

New operators like Chand and Sadru and jumped on to the bandwagon.Now, dieselMerchant vessels plying in and around Mumbai bring in a windfall to the smugglers in the city. Diesel from merchant vessels is smuggled in connivance with the ship's master (captain) and other senior officers. The agent clinches the deal even before the ship reaches Mumbai harbour. Some shipping companies from countries like Indonesia and Philippines have agents in Mumbai. The agent acts as a point man and also helps in negotiating with the racketeers. They work on commission. Austerity driveWhat is worrisome is the fact all the payments are made in dollars and this gives a fillip to the burgeoning hawala trade in the city. Ship owners usually sanction a specified quantity of diesel for running the engine and other auxiliary machinery while sailing. The captain of the ship and a few senior officers go on an austerity drive to save fuel. Marine logbooks on the ships are fudged by crewmembers to show a high consumption pattern. Generally, air conditioners and other machines are switched off to save fuel. The purloined diesel is bought at around Rs. 12 per litre and sold at profits between Rs. 6 to Rs. 8 per litre. Towards LonavalaInvestigations carried out by MiD DAY indicated that consignments are smuggled to makeshift jetties in Navi Mumbai. Diesel is immediately loaded on to waiting tankers which head towards Lonavala, Pune, Kolhapur and up to Belgaum. The drivers of the tankers are provided with fake bills, a precaution if intercepted along the route. In most cases a sizeable hafta is ensured for officials of the channels through which the consignment is passing.Mafioso linksThe mafia has strong links with dubious petrol pump owners. The stolen diesel is dumped into the tanks of the petrol pump under cover of darkness. "Since diesel is sold clandestinely at cheap rates, it is a great loss to the state exchequer," said an excise officer, who did not want to be named. The routeThe sea-going tugs used for smuggling diesel sail out of the harbour in darkness and head for 'Bravo' anchorage, about 20 nautical miles off Mumbai harbour. The consignment is offloaded in less than an hour. The diesel-laden tugs and similar vessel head for sensitive Raigad coast through Murud-Janjira. The consignment is transferred in 200 litre cans, which is later filled into dredger and small crafts. Thus, goes on the most dangerous, coveted and lucrative businesses of the underworld where human life is cheap, the crash of waves drown out the gunshots and ghosts of the dead stay buried 20,000 leagues under the sea.

CHALAKUZHY PALLI

CHALAKUZHY MADOM

THEKKE PUTHEN CHURCH

To the Greater Glory of GOD ,The Thekke Puthen Church ,( called The St Mulk Thekke Puthen "Palli" ) dedicated to the Syrian Saint YOUHANAN MULK was built by the members of the CHALAKUZHY family led by the late Chalakuzhy Mammen Paulose . The Church is situated opposite the residence of the late Chalakuzhy Mammen Paulose at Kavumbhagom at Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta District of Kerala State in Southern India.

This church was handed over to the Malankara Orthodox Church of India by the Chalakuzhy Family. The Church is now an independent Parish within the Niranam Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Church owing alleigance to the Catholicose of the East and the Malankara Metropolitan. The members of this church were originally part of the Paliakkara Church parish .This Church was constructed during the period when the Paliakkara church was shut due to the legal battle between the Protestant Reformists led by Kovoor Iype Thoma Cathanar, and the Orthodox faction. The Indian Orthodox Church (also known as the Malankara Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church of the East, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Orthodox Syrian Church of the East), is a prominent member of the Oriental Orthodox Church family in Christianity, founded by St. ... This article describes different viewpoints about the history and tradition associated with the ecclesiastical position called Catholicos of the East, a title used by Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches to denote the head of a Church or a dignitary of the highest order. ... BACKGROUND The members of Paliakkara church before its foundation was generally of Niranam St. ...

This Church is unique and notable in the fact that it is arguably the only church under the Malankara Orthodox Church of India that is dedicated to a saint of SYRIAN ORIGIN----SAINT YOUHANAN MULK.

ABHILASH PAULOSE CHALAKUZHY

The year was 52 AD and the place was a small village in the northern part of Kerala named Palayur. Those days Palayur was a traditional bastion of conservative Hindus. A small group of Jews lived nearby in a hilly place and they had a synagogue there.One morning four Brahmin Hindu priests were conducting their ritualistic sun worship in the temple pond. They were from the four well known families of the area, Kadappu, Kalikavu (Kaliyankal), Shankuthiri, and Pakalomittom.They were standing half immersed in water and sprinkling water upwards chanting Vedic mantras to the sun god.Suddenly a Jewish ascetic came and stopped near where they were worshipping.

He was a visitor to the nearby synagogue and came from Jerusalem recently. The local Jews accompanied him.The visitor asked though his interpreter, what was going on. After getting their explanation he commented that it seemed the sun god was not accepting their offering, because the water fell back to the pond when they threw it up as an offering.The Hindu priests asked what could happen differently. Then the visiting Jewish holy man told them that he could throw the water as a supplication to the living God who is the creator of sun and all the other celestial stars, and his God would accept it.As the priests gave permission, he got down to the pond and worshipped God in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and then threw the water up in to the air, and to all present it seemed the water drops remained suspended in the air.The visitor explained to the Hindu priests that he was Thomas, one of the Disciples of Christ. He further told them that Jesus was the incarnation of God, the father.The convinced priests accepted baptism from the hands of the Apostle.

My grandfather had told me that our family is the direct descendents of the second Brahmin priest in the above story, the Kalikavu.There are thousands of other Christian families in Kerala claiming to be the descendents of each of these four Brahmins. According to this tradition, Christianity came to Kerala before it reached Europe or even Rome.In the 4th century, these families moved to another village, 200 miles south of Palayur to a village called Kuravilagad. St. Thomas hadordained some priests from these families. In the following years due to lack of scriptural books and the absence of connection to an Apostolic See, these groups of Christians went through a difficult period.In 354 AD, a bishop Mar Joseph and 72 other Christian families under the leadership of a merchant named Thomas of Cana emigrated to Kerala from Mesopotamia and Jerusalem.

Thomas of Cana ( where Jesus turned water into wine) was said to be a blood relative of Jesus. This immigration was a great revitalization for the local Christians. These 72 families were Jewish Christians, and their descendents to this day live in Kerala. They keep a separate identity from all other communities in Kerala. They are known as Kanaya Christians and are fiercely ethnic and practice endogamy.Christians of Kerala converted by St. Thomas accepted the Syriac (Aramaic) liturgy from this newly arrived group and apostolic benediction from the Patriarch of Antioch.

Hence, the St. Thomas Christians of Kerala are also known as Syrian Christians of Kerala. Syriac- Aramaic was the language spoken at the time of Jesus Christ in Palestine and it was also the lingua franca for communication among many nations of the East. Even today Syrian Christians use this language in parts of their liturgy.In ancient manuscripts the Christian community in Kerala is sometimes referred to as Nazaranis, meaning the followers of Jesus who was from Nazareth. Foreign travelers have also called them, Malabar Christians, as the coastal region of Kerala is called Malabar. Malankara is another name for the coast.

How reliable is St. Thomas tradition, and the story of conversion of my ancestors?The tradition is that the apostle first landed in Kodungalore on the west coast of Kerala in 52 AD. His first followers were some of the local Jews and then a few of the indigenous people. He traveled south establishing 7 churches in Kerala. He continued his missionary journey to Malacca and China. He returned to India and was martyred in 72 A.D in Madras where his tomb still remains.Many historians think that the ancient Jews of Kerala were the descendents of Jews taken in captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

Later when Cyrus, the king of Persia conquered Babylon he released the Jews, and some of them came to Kerala in 585 BC. There is enough evidence of a large Jewish colony in Kerala in the 1st century AD and there existed a continuous flow of trade between the Middle East and Kerala making the journey of the Apostle possible. Some of the early Christian converts of Kerala were probably from this Jewish community.The visit of St. Thomas to India is mentioned by many early church historians and also in the apocryphal book ' Acts of St. Thomas ' written by the Syrian Bardisan. (152-220 AD). Pantaenus, the governor of the school of faithful of Alexandria visited these Christians in 185 AD and left some references in his writings.Also, the presence of the Kanaya Christian community whose records indicate that their ancestors met St. Thomas Christians when they came to Kerala's shores in 345 AD is another strong evidence.In 552 AD, Cosmas Indicopleustus visited Kerala's coast and wrote about the presence of a Christian community there.In 1292, the famous Venetian traveler Marco Polo made the following interesting observation after a visit to the St. Thomas tomb in Madras." The Christians come here on pilgrimages from many places and gather some of the soil from this place where the Saint was killed, and this soil they take away with them to their countries.

Now, if anyone falls ill of a tertian ague, or any other fever of anykind, they give him a portion made of this soil. As soon as the sick man drinks it, he is well again." Marco Polo further attests that he himself took some of this soil to Venice and cured many people. (Travels of Marco Polo by L.F. Benedetto translated by Aldo Ricci).Though this treatment is not available at present at the St. Thomas' tomb, it is a revered center of pilgrimage and still annually attracts thousands from all around the world.In the same year 1292, the Italian missionary priest John of Monte Corvino, who was a special representative of Pope Nicholas IV visited Kerala Christians on his way to China and stayed with them for 6 months. He writes that he was quite surprised because these Christians had never heard about the Pope. Their allegiance was to the church of Persia and Antioch.Two ancient inscribed copper plates in the possession of Kerala Christians and another copy of a copper plate kept in Cambridge museum in England are further proof of the antiquity of this community.

Let me continue the story of my ancestors. converted by St. Thomas in the Palayur village ,and later moved to the village of Kuravilagad in the 4th century.In Kuravilagad, they built a church with the assistance from the local ruler in 350 AD. Bishop Joseph who came with the Kana immigrants in 345 AD consecrated this church dedicated to St. Mary.My Christian ancestors lived in Kuravilagad and the surrounding areas for another millennium as farmers, merchants, and professionals, and they were well-respected members of the society.(It is about them, Gibbon wrote in his ' Decline and fall of Roman Empire ' " In arms, in arts, and possibly in virtue, they excelled the natives of Hindustan.

Their husbandmen cultivated the palm trees, the merchants were enriched by pepper trade, and their soldiers preceded the other nobles of Malabar.")In 1498, when Portuguese merchants under the leadership of the great explorer Vasco Da Gamma came to Kerala, they were happy to see an indigenous group of Christians. But they soon realized that though these people were Christians, they were different from the Portuguese Christians. Portuguese were western Christians of the Latin rite who followed Pope of Rome.This was the period of inquisition in the Catholic Church and the Portuguese were very intolerant to other rites. Many local Christians became unhappy the way the Portuguese treated them, and many moved to the southern parts of Kerala, to be away from them. Kuravilagad was under the Northern kingdom, which was a protectorate of the Portuguese.The Portuguese bishop of Goa, Dom Menezes came to Kerala in 1599 and from June 20- 24, he called for a meeting of the Kerala Christians. 153 local priests and 660 lay representatives attended these meetings and they were forced to accept the supremacy of the Latin Church.

This is the infamous Synod of Diapore in the church history. Syrian Christians were forced to accept the hegemony of the Roman Church with the threat from the Portuguese soldiers and the power of the local king. Menezes visited many Kerala churches and burned much of the valuable ancient prayer books and other manuscripts because he considered them heresies.But as Portuguese were soon defeated by the Dutch in the Kerala coast, the local Christians who were waiting for an opportunity ,revolted against the Portuguese and the Latin domination of their church. The immediate provocation was when the Portuguese arrested a Syrian bishop Ahatulla from the holy land on his way to Kerala and took him to Goa as a prisoner. Somehow a rumor spread that the Portuguese drowned their bishop in the sea.On Friday, January 3, 1653, nearly 20,000 local Christians assembled in Mattachery, a port city near Cochin. They tied a long rope around a stone cross and touching the rope in a large human chain they took an oath that they or their children would never accept Portuguese or Latin hegemony over their church. This event is known in history as the Oath of Coonan Cross (leaning cross.) The people unanimously elected their Archdeacon Thomas of the Pakalomittom family as their bishop.

Later he was ordained by the visiting Mar Gregoriose, the bishop of Jerusalem under the Syrian (Jacobite) Patriarch of Antioch. At that time there were about 200,000 Christians in Kerala, and only 400 sided with the Portuguese.Soon Rome reviewed the situation more closely and started a conciliatory approach towards Syrian Christians. The Pope decreed that those who wanted could continue to practice the Syrian rite and liturgy. The Pope also sent an Italian bishop to Kerala and ordained a cousin of Arch Deacon Thomas from the Pakalomittom family as the first native Catholic bishop of Kerala.His name was Parampil Chandy Metran, or Bishop Alexander DeCampo as western historians refer to him. This caused a large number of rebelling Kerala Syrian Christians to return to the Roman Catholic Church.

So for the first time there were two divisions with in the Syrian Christians of Kerala, one group following Rome, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and the other following the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch.There were several confrontations between these two groups at that time. In one of those episodes in 1666 when a Portuguese bishop tried to enter the KuravalagadChurch, it unfortunately turned violent. The local ruler supported the Roman Catholic faction. The members of the original 4 Christian families were divided between these two factions. The faction that was rebelling against the papal group left Kuravilagad and moved further south to the southern kingdom, the Thekencore.

Thomas alias Oommen was my ancestor on the paternal side who lived 10 generations before me. He lived during this most turbulent period in the history of our community in Kerala. He strongly objected the Portuguese hegemony and the Latinisation of the IndianChurch and he participated in Coonan Cross Oath of 1653. When the majority in his parish church, its vicar, and many of his relatives took pro- Papal position, Oommen Thomas was not prepared to compromise on his principles. If he had taken a position supporting the Portuguese and the Latin missionaries as many of his family members did, he could have avoided many of the financial and physical dangers.

He even dared to take a position against the powerful local king. Finally when he found that he couldn't be true to the faith and traditions of his fathers if he obliged to the Portuguese power, he left Kuravilagad with a brother and a sister and came to Changanacherry, a town in central Kerala. It was only a distance of 60 miles, but this short distance of travel changed the destiny for his descendents.In Chaganachery Oommen lived in a house near the present municipal court given to him by the Raja of Theckencore. Oommen's brother became a priest and served the church in Chaganachery. At that time the churches in Chaganachery and Allepey Thathanpalli were branch churches (kurushupally) of Niranam church. Later these two churches joined Roman Catholicism.Oommen had two sons, Kuruvilla and Mathen. The second son, Mathen moved to Thiruvella and became the founding father of the Chalakuzhy family. He later died in a smallpox epidemic.

There are many versions about the origins of the family name " CHALAKUZHY ". The most likely versions are : The word " CHAAL " in Malayalam refers to " a water channel " used for irrigation and the word " KUZHY " refers to " a low lying piece of land. " The first home of our ancestors may have been on a low lying piece of land which had an irrigation channel passing through it. The name may also have its origins in the words " CHALAI " which means " MARKET " in the old Malayalam vernacular. Our ancestors may have accquired a low lying plot of land which was at that time used as a market place and hence they may have been referred to as the family that lived in the CHALAI-KUZHY. These are , of course , stories , based on conjencture and there is no hard evidence to prove either version.

Mr Abhilash Paulose Chalakuzhy grandson of Late C P Ninan the nephew of Chalakuzhy Paulose Mathen and His Grace the Most Rev Dr Abraham Mar Thoma Metropolitan which has its roots at Chalakuzhy Madom in Thiruvalla town in Kerala.

Chalakuzhy Paulose Mathen (1890-1960) Pioneer Banker and founder of the Quilon Bank Ltd which merged to form TNQ Bank Ltd [co-owned by K. C. Mammen Mappillai(Owner Malayala Manorama,MRF)], Member of Parliament from Mavelikara Constituency to the first Lok Sabha(1952), ,Indian Ambassador to the Sudan -1957 and a close friend of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.His grand daughter Mariam Ram is married to N Ram(Chairman and Managing Director of "The Hindu" (Indian Newspaper)) and is the Managing Director of TnQ Books and Journals named after TnQ Bank.

Abraham MarThoma was known all over India for his burning passion for evangelism, for his zeal for spreading the Gospel through the length and breadth of India. He received theological training in India and Canada. It was during this time that the MarThomaChurch became well known in the Western World.He was consecrated Bishop in the year 1917 and he worked relentlessly as Suffragan Metropolitan for the spiritual strengthening of the Church and for its witness. He was installed Metropolitan in 1944 when Titus II Metropolitan passed away.He was born in an illustrious Orthodox family but his father passed away when he was very young and he was brought up in his mother’s house at Eraviperoor, a home which cherished the blessings of the reformation. Thus from his early days he was inspired by evangelistic activities.He was president of the Mar Thoma Evangelistic Association and the National Missioanry Society. Even though he was suffering from acute diabetes for many years, he went on working with the motto: “it is far better to burn out than to rust out”. The Abraham Mar Thoma Bible institute established for the training of voluntary evangelists in the Church was named after him. He was called to eternal home in 1947.